[Coral-List] Zoanthid Removal

Szmant, Alina szmanta at uncw.edu
Thu Dec 9 08:36:11 EST 2010


Zoanthids and other cnidarians are simple organisms that depending on how much tissue is left could possibly regenerate from fragments of tissue left behind.  They survive surficial predation that way,  And zooanthids can form stolons as they spread which you may not have removed.

The most likely cause of outbreaks of zoanthids and other encrusting inverts is lake of predators:  fishes, sea urchins etc.  But they have always been very common in some habitats, and they are chemically protected so it is not unusual for them to take over large areas of reef real estate if predators don't keep them in check.

*************************************************************************
Dr. Alina M. Szmant
Professor of Marine Biology
Center for Marine Science and Dept of Biology and Marine Biology
University of North Carolina Wilmington
5600 Marvin Moss Ln
Wilmington NC 28409 USA
tel:  910-962-2362  fax: 910-962-2410  cell: 910-200-3913
http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
*******************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of MelissaE Keyes
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 3:20 PM
To: coral coral
Subject: [Coral-List] Zoanthid Removal

To Jonathan E. Brown's query about removing this 'pest'.  I did rip one off from 
near/almost attacking a coral that I have series photos over several years.  It 
grew right back in a matter of weeks, even though it looked like I'd removed the 
entire creature.  Do they have roots???

Cheers,

Melissa


 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Melissa E. Keyes
St. Croix, 
U.S.Virgin Islands
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list



More information about the Coral-List mailing list